a beer blog about portland, oregon and all the wonderful craft beer in our fair city. we're craft beer ambassadors & beer geek enthusiasts; we meet up over tasty beers. some of us homebrew, a few of us are pro brewers, some of us are hobbyists, and some are firmly entrenched in the portland craft beer scene!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Interview Series : Meet the Geek : Sarah Pederson aka Saraveza

Favorite Beer: At the moment, a vintage Scaldis Prestige would be a magical gift. But I’ll take a local and fresh IPA any day!

Favorite Beer Haunt: Luigi’s Pizza in Shawano, Wisconsin. The first place in my home town that really showed an interest in craft beer.

What was the first craft brew you ever tried? What did you think? When I moved to Portland, Deschutes Black Butte Porter was a go-to for me. It opened the door to beer exploration. It wasn’t until I tried a Hair of the Dog, Fred that I was absolutely mesmerized by beer.

Do you homebrew? If yes, favorite homebrew to date: I used to, but not much these days.

How’d you hear about the pdxbeergeeks? How can you NOT know about PDXBEERGEEKS?

What does being a beer geek mean to you? It means being a warrior in this Craft Beer Revolution. It means engaging with others. It means “thinking and drinking.” It means having an ongoing interest in what’s happening in each glass. It means sharing your beer knowledge and always being open to learning more. It means supporting the local economy.

I love working, learning and playing in beer. I’m going to work for a very long time and I can’t imagine a better way to handle that than being a student and teacher of beer and beer culture.

If you could change one thing about beer culture in the US, what would it be? I would increase the overall understanding of beer’s versatility. I’d love for the average beer drinker to know that some beers can be drank in a 5 oz snifter and enjoyed in place of a disgestif. I’d love for it to be common knowledge that you can age beers - not just wine - in your basement and create amazing flavors with patience. It would miraculous if people across the country started ordering their beer based on the idea that your meal can be elevated with the right beverage in the right glass. In Beervana we’re well on our way to making these commonplace practices, but that’s not the case in most cities. There’s a lot of education that needs to be carried out to make this happen. There’s a whole segment of the market that our beloved craft brewers are just waiting for to open up. And once it does, the sky’s the limit! Viva la Craft Beer Revolution!

What do you love about Portland’s Craft Beer scene? The fact that we truly do have neighborhood breweries. Every section of town has their local brewpub and there’s nothing cooler than that. We, the people, really get to be close to the beer and the brewers. This makes the local beer “our beer.” I take a lot of pride and sense of ownership with Portland’s beers.